High School: A Definition of True Success That Builds From the Inside Out

Back in December of 2009, after a conversation I had with one of my kids, I was contemplating the idea of what true or real success is. A definition, so to speak, that would help give clarification to the term.

I mean everyone has their own personal definition of what success is to them, right?

However, in today's fast-paced society, one where immediate gratification and get-what-you-can-type attitudes are so commonplace, money seems to be at the top of the list when it comes to measuring whether one has reached the pinnacle of achievement.

So as I continued to contemplate that thought, dollars equaling the measure of success (a concept that certainly has led to its fair share of societal issues, as many are willing to sacrifice everything to get it), I started formulating a prose that moved away from this (in my mind) misguided assessment.

One that had a more intrinsic foundation, and that would help keep those who adopted it on a more self-fulfilling and rewarding path.

Below is that prose, something that I believe still has strong relevance today some three years later, tomorrow, and well into the future.

True Success Is:

The willingness, perseverance, and commitment to go through a process that allows one to achieve personal, family, and/or group goals; the kind of goals that others may view as impossible to accomplish.

And to do so with solid character and integrity, the kind of character and integrity that beseeches one to do the right thing just because it is the right thing to do. This is regardless of the outside pressure to do otherwise.

Finally, the readiness and resolution to reach out to others in order to teach them how to do the same.

It is this kind of success, true success, which brings with it an internal sense of gratification and happiness that can be difficult to quantify.

It most certainly cannot be measured by the size of one's bank account, the money one makes, materialistic things one owns, nor prestige or power one believes they hold.

In fact, it is those who try to measure true success in this manner who diminish the real essence of what it is all about, and in so doing never really grasp its completeness.